Lori Dawson
Knoxville
Summary
Innovative technology executive with a proven track record of diverse experience. Skilled at driving strong business results and effectively managing large budgets. Demonstrated ability to cultivate a strong, diverse talent base. Committed to leveraging technological advancements to propel organizational growth and success.
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Director Service Engineering
U.S. Cellular
09.2017 - Current
- Developed a best in class core engineering team that has decreased the amount of time to deliver key projects from 19+ weeks to 6 weeks and has improved the quality of network changes by decreasing customer impacts
- Defined and implemented two new teams: Business Solutions Engineering: The team has decreased the amount of time to deliver tunnel solutions from weeks to hours and supported City of Racine Smart City Initiatives and Tech shows
- Service Assurance Engineering: The team proactively identifies service degradation in the network, designs soft alarming, and engineers key performance indicators
- Designed a managed service offering to support the Business and Government customers
- Manage a $100M+ operating and capital budget
- Talent Development lead for Women in Action Knoxville
- Recognized as a TOPS award winner for negotiating a roaming contract that saved the organization $650M and has strong SLAs
Senior Director Engineering and Network Operations
U.S. Cellular
11.2015 - 09.2017
- Led teams of engineers that were responsible for engineering, deploying, optimizing, operating, and maintaining the radio area network and regional data centers
- Decreased the average cost of constructing a cell site from $1M to $425K
- Optimized the RF engineering design for VoLTE saving the organizations $10M
- Increased generator penetration to cell site ratio
- Led cross regional backhaul reliability team
- Implemented strong governance and controls over the operating and capital budgets
- Managed a $100M operating and capital budget
Director of Engineering
U.S. Cellular
12.2009 - 10.2015
- Led teams of engineers that were responsible for engineering the regional data centers, the backhaul network, constructing cell sites, and delivering projects
- Exceeded or met the monthly build plan commitment 96 consecutive months
- Successfully deployed the LTE network
- Implemented a capacity management structure
- Chair of the Women in Action ARG - Nebraska
- Recognized as a Dynamic Excellence Award winner for leadership and delivery of results
Senior Manager Cell Site Deployment
U.S. Cellular
03.2005 - 12.2009
- Led a team of engineers that were responsible for constructing cell sites and deploying solutions into the radio area network
- Evolved the team from a construction team to a professional project management team
- Exceeded or met the monthly build plan commitment 36 consecutive months
- Responsible for $100M CapEx budget
- Recognized as a Dynamic Excellence Award winner for leadership and delivery of results
VoATM, VODSL, and VoIP Program Manager
MCI/Verizon
03.1997 - 03.2005
- Responsible for leading a team of IT engineers in designing and delivering provisioning and billing systems to support the voice over network
- Successfully designed services that required the merger of the WorldCom, MCI, and UUNet network and systems
- Recognized as a Circle of Excellence award winner for deploying a new technology on time and on budget
Education
Bachelor of Arts -
University of Iowa
Ph.D. - Computer Science
COLORADO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
Colorado Springs, CO01-2023
MASTER’S - Organizational Leadership
Bellevue University
12-2009
Skills
- Culture transformation
- Collaborative leadership
- Team building and motivation
- Talent development
Accomplishments
Co-chaired the CTIA Smart City Transportation Working Group
CTIA Smart City Working Group
Led the Smart City Transportation Group that defined and published a manual for cities.
Timeline
Senior Director Service Engineering
U.S. Cellular
09.2017 - Current
Senior Director Engineering and Network Operations
U.S. Cellular
11.2015 - 09.2017
Director of Engineering
U.S. Cellular
12.2009 - 10.2015
Senior Manager Cell Site Deployment
U.S. Cellular
03.2005 - 12.2009
VoATM, VODSL, and VoIP Program Manager
MCI/Verizon
03.1997 - 03.2005
Bachelor of Arts -
University of Iowa
Ph.D. - Computer Science
COLORADO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
MASTER’S - Organizational Leadership
Bellevue University
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